One minute you have a permanent lease, the next it's worth nothing and you can wiggle. Is this possible? Yes, just ask Andrej Badin, architecture student from Amsterdam.
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Andrej has been renting a room in a private homeowner's apartment for four years now. At a certain point, the homeowner and landlord could no longer pay his mortgage. The bank (ING) enters the house through a foreclosure auction to sell.
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No problem for Andrej, you would think, because buy does not break rent… However?
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Rental clause
Apparently not if it's up to ING. What Andrej was never told, not even by the landlord, was that in the mortgage deed there was a so-called. rent clause is fixed. The bank can invoke this rental clause. This means that:
- the homeowner may not rent out the property without the bank's permission.
- the bank, in order to increase the sales proceeds, may sell the apartment without tenants in it.
Rent protection?
Andrej only recently found out about this. He received a letter from the notary. In it, he was drawn to the rent clause and the foreclosure sale (January 2021). Before that time, Andrej has to leave. Andrej cannot appeal to rent protection, because now that it doesn't suit the landlord and the bank, the lease is 'suddenly' worth nothing.
Inquiries with experts (including at Foundation !Woon) provided no more than that this is a legal practice. A lawyer told Andrej without batting an eyelid that you can 'easily' find out yourself whether a rental clause applies, because it is 'public' information. Public yes. You just need to 'just know' and 49 euros deposit at the Land Registry.v
Tenants, beware!
This is not an isolated story. A rent clause appears in many more mortgage deeds without tenants being aware of it. With the current corona crisis, the necessary de homeowners in mortgage payment difficulties come. With all the consequences that entails for the tenants who feel 'safe' with a permanent lease.
Record at the municipality of Amsterdam
The Bond Precaire Woonvormen (BPW) dept. Amsterdam has taken care of Andrej. Wednesday 9 December Andrej, with the support of the BPW, will record during the Housing and Construction council committee meeting of the municipality of Amsterdam. Not only will he bring his story up, but also questions:
- or the municipality is aware from other tenants in the same situation, and
- what the council will do to inform and assist these tenants
The meeting and the voiceover are live to follow: Wednesday 9 December from 9:00 a.m.
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